How Baha’is Usurped Muslim Endowments by the Help of the Israeli Government

Mazra’ih (Masra’ih) is the name of a mansion and surrounding land that Baha’u’llah had lived in for two years when he was ‘allegedly’ imprisoned in Palestine. According to an article in the Baha’i magazine, Baha’i News, this land belonged to the Muslims and could not be legally sold to the Baha’is:

“Masra’ih is a Moslem religious endowment, and it is consequently impossible, under existing laws in this country, for it to be sold. However, as the friends are aware, the Ministry of Religions, due to the direct intervention of the Minister himself, Rabbi Maimon, consented, in the face of considerable opposition, to deliver Masra’ih to the Baha’is as a Holy Place to be visited by Baha’i pilgrims. This means that we rent it from the Department of Moslem and Druze affairs in the Ministry of Religions. The head of this Department is also a Rabbi, Dr. Hirschberg. Recently he, his wife and party, visited all the Baha’i properties in Haifa and ‘Akka, following upon a very pleasant tea party in the Western Pilgrim House with the members of the International Baha’i Council.” (Baha’i News, no. 244, June 1951, p. 4)

According to this document the land was forcefully taken from the Muslims and delivered to the Baha’is in return for a rent which was paid to the Israeli government.

A few years later, the land is officially usurped for good and sold to the Baha’is by the Israeli government (it must be noted that Muslim endowments cannot be sold). The Universal House of Justice then sends out a letter to Baha’is worldwide happily informing them that this Muslim Endowment –that cannot be sold or purchased- has been bought by the UHJ:

“The Mansion of Mazra`ih, often referred to by the beloved Guardian as one of the “twin mansions” in which the Blessed Beauty resided after nine years within the walled prison-city of `Akká, and dear to the hearts of the believers by reason of its associations with their Lord, has at last been purchased together with 24,000 square metres of land extending into the plain on its eastward side.”(The Universal House of Justice, from Ridvan 1973 message; Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1968-1973)